At the Hour of Yin, in the backyard of the pharmacy, Manager Liu held a few pitch-black objects while Jiang Feng stared blankly at them.
"Uncle Liu, what are these?"
"Leg guards and arm guards, ten catties a pair. Starting today, you will wear them to practice horse stance and throw five thousand punches every day, along with one thousand frog leaps."
"What!" Jiang Feng's mouth twitched as his expression instantly collapsed. "Uncle Liu, do you have a grudge against my grandfather? Are you trying to take it out on me?"
"Cut the crap!" Manager Liu glared at him, secured the guards onto Jiang Feng with a few sharp slaps, and kicked him in the backside. "Get to practicing! If you don't train properly, don't even think about avenging your grandfather."
Thus, Jiang Feng's hellish training began.
Every single one of the five thousand punches felt grueling. The weight of the arm guards made maintaining the horse stance far from easy, slowing his punching speed to a crawl and placing several times more stress and tension on his muscles than normal.
Even more brutal were the one thousand frog leaps. Every single leap required the coordination of his entire skeletal and muscular system, and the extra twenty catties of armor only added to the difficulty.
By the end of every day, Jiang Feng felt as though he had been fished out of a river, his body no longer feeling like his own. His muscles twitched relentlessly, and his mind hovered on the brink of collapse.
Manager Liu had no choice but to drag Jiang Feng into a large wooden tub himself, using precious medicinal herbs to soothe his tendons, promote circulation, and strengthen his physical body.
Even Manager Liu himself sometimes doubted whether such intense training might crush a fourteen-year-old boy, but whenever he looked into Jiang Feng's eyes, he always saw an unyielding light burning brightly.
Gradually, Jiang Feng grew accustomed to the weight of the armor, and his physical strength rapidly increased.
Steeling his heart, Manager Liu added another five catties to the guards. This pushed Jiang Feng right to his absolute limit, yet he never uttered a single word of complaint. He trusted Manager Liu, and he needed to become strong.
Later on, Manager Liu invented a new training method. He tied hemp ropes around Jiang Feng's waist and both elbows, with ten-catty iron blocks hanging from the other ends. The ropes ran through iron rings fixed to a chest-high wooden frame, meaning that whenever Jiang Feng moved forward, the iron blocks were pulled upward, and whenever he moved back, they descended.
"Step forward and throw a punch!" Manager Liu barked an order. Jiang Feng immediately stepped forward with his right leg while pulling the hemp rope with his right arm to strike out with a fist.
Ugh! Jiang Feng stumbled, his punch noticeably slower than usual.
"Uncle Liu, we can do it this way too?" Jiang Feng cried out in surprise, clutching his bruised and aching elbows.
"Step back! Switch feet and punch!" Manager Liu ignored him and barked the next command.
Jiang Feng had no choice but to shut his mouth. Following Manager Liu's instructions, he diligently practiced step by step, punch by punch.
Happy times are always fleeting. Three months slipped by in the blink of an eye, and the corner of the backyard was now piled high with snapped hemp ropes.
Manager Liu told Jiang Feng to remove all his restraints. Although it was already November, Jiang Feng still bared his upper body. Thick muscles bulged across his back, arms, and abdomen, with veins standing out prominently, though the rope burns on his elbows and waist silently spoke of the hardships he had endured.
"Not a bad look!" Manager Liu crossed his arms, looking at Jiang Feng with smug satisfaction, like an artist admiring his own masterpiece. "Throw a punch and let me see."
Before Manager Liu even finished speaking, Jiang Feng surged toward him and lashed out with a left punch. Moving as fast as a leopard, his fist whipped through the air with a loud, sharp sonic boom.
Manager Liu's eyebrows twitched. "The little brat is trying a sneak attack, utterly fearless," he thought. He swept his palm forward to grab Jiang Feng's fist.
With a loud thud, Jiang Feng's fist was caught firmly in Manager Liu's grip, and all his momentum instantly vanished into thin air.
Jiang Feng's face fell in bitter disappointment. He had genuinely thought that after all these days of training, he would at least be able to exchange a couple of blows with Manager Liu, but the result was crushing.
Seeing Jiang Feng's dejected expression, Manager Liu smiled happily. "You're doing very well! Far beyond my expectations. That single punch had over three hundred catties of force. Judging by this display, an ordinary Bone Refining practitioner probably wouldn't be your match. Haha! It seems my original training method has proven quite effective."
"Original? You're playing with me!" Jiang Feng was startled at first, but then brightened up—at least nearly a year of bitter toil had finally yielded results.
"Remember, though, in the face of absolute strength, any petty scheme is vulnerable. Your sneak attack and your speed are nothing before someone like me in the Origin Returning Stage. Just in terms of sheer strength, an early Origin Returning Stage cultivator reaches twelve thousand catties, not to mention everything else."
Twelve thousand catties? Jiang Feng gasped inwardly. Forget the Origin Returning Stage; he still had an unbridgeable chasm between himself and even the Qi Refining Stage.
Looking at Manager Liu with eager eyes, Jiang Feng said, "Uncle Liu, tell me about the Qi Refining Stage." Just as Manager Liu gathered his thoughts and before he could speak, Jiang Feng suddenly clenched his right fist and lunged forward with another sneak attack! His right arm rapidly swelled as layers of scale-like patterns flashed across it from shoulder to palm. This punch was even faster, dragging a piercing whistle in its wake.
Manager Liu reached out and caught the fist once more, but then let out an astonished cry, "Why is the power in your right arm so much greater?"
"I noticed this back in Daqing Mountain, Uncle Liu. Do you know what's going on?"
Manager Liu furrowed his brows deeply, remaining silent for a long moment before saying, "You must carry a powerful bloodline... a Demon Beast bloodline, though it hasn't awakened yet."
"A Demon Beast... bloodline?" Jiang Feng was struck dumb with shock, his mind ringing.
"Indeed. That punch of yours already carried five hundred catties of force. Who knows what you'll become once your bloodline fully awakens? It seems your background is far from simple."
"Does that mean my parents... are Demon Beasts?" Jiang Feng asked in horror.
"You unfilial brat, so what if they are? But that's just a guess—you should worry about the present first," Manager Liu chided with a smile.
"There's one final basic training exercise left, but we need to go somewhere else for it. Get yourself ready; we leave at dawn tomorrow." With that, Manager Liu strode off, looking quite excited.
Jiang Feng's mind was in turmoil. Although his training had gone smoothly and he had gained a lot, he still felt his strength was improving too slowly. He could handle a few ordinary people, but what if he ran into an opponent far stronger than himself—someone like Uncle Liu, for instance? How should he deal with that?
Jiang Feng used to pride himself on faster punches and agile footwork, but those were mere parlor tricks in front of powerhouses, completely not worth mentioning.
After turning it over in his mind, Jiang Feng finally let out a soft sigh. *Hmph, tolerance toward an enemy is cruelty to oneself.*
If the enemy was too formidable, the thirty-six stratagems dictate that running away is the best choice.
That afternoon, Jiang Feng grabbed a padded winter coat and packed some food before heading out. He still couldn't put the little beggar girl out of his mind.
From afar, Jiang Feng spotted a few older boys yelling at and shoving the little beggar girl around.
A sharp pang gripped Jiang Feng's heart. He shouted in fury and charged forward.
"Get lost!" Jiang Feng shoved the bullies aside and pulled the little beggar girl behind him.
"Where'd this wild brat come from? Beat him!" the ringleader pointed at Jiang Feng and shouted. The others immediately swarmed forward, but Jiang Feng dropped them to the ground in just a few quick moves.
Seeing Jiang Feng slowly closing in on him, the ringleader's face drained of color, his earlier bravado completely vanished. He cried out in terror, "Stop! You can't hit me. My dad is the martial arts instructor for the Lu family of Yunzhou City. You—"
Crack! Before he could finish, Jiang Feng slapped him across the face, spinning him around and sending two teeth flying from his mouth.
"You... just wait! My dad won't let you get away with this when he gets back!" With that, the boys scrambled away in a panic.
Jiang Feng walked slowly over to the little beggar girl, reached out to gently pluck some leaf fragments from her hair, and tenderly stroked her pale little face. She didn't dodge, staring at him unblinkingly. Jiang Feng placed the padded coat and the food into her hands.
"What's your name? Where are your parents?"
"..."
"I don't know where my parents are either. Let me be your older brother. Once I have my own place, I'll come pick you up, okay?"
"..."
"Stay away from those bullies from now on. Don't let them keep picking on you."
"..."
Seeing that she wouldn't speak, Jiang Feng gently patted her head once more, took a deep breath, and turned to leave.
As she watched Jiang Feng's retreating back, a faint smile touched the corner of the little beggar girl's lips, and her eyes held a clarity they had never known before.